The present application relates to a semiconductor structure and a method of forming the same. More particularly, the present application relates to a semiconductor structure including a conformal metal-insulator-metal capacitor that is formed utilizing a single process which enables the in-situ conformal deposition of electrode (i.e., metal or metal nitride) and dielectric layers of the capacitor structure.
As semiconductor device dimensions continue to shrink, there is increasing difficulty in creating capacitor structures which can meet desired performance metrics. Dielectric materials having a dielectric constant that is greater than silicon dioxide (so-called high-k dielectric materials) such as Nb2O5 and similar metal oxides are promising candidates as insulators in metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors due to their desired physical and electrical properties.
Maximizing capacitor surface area by adopting high complex, high aspect ratio feature patterning increases the challenges for the necessary metal and insulators. There is a need for cost reduction in capacitor fabrication by reducing complexity and reducing the number of processing steps. There is thus a need for providing capacitor structures that contain conformal electrode layers and conformal high-k material layers and with excellent interface control on high complex, high surface area patterns using a minimal number of processing steps.